Even With Will, There's No Way
by AshleeMyree
Summary: Takes place during the Scorch Trials: Slightly AU. Asa has made it her life mission to track down WICKED and get back what was taken from her. Along the way, she met Elina and Lexia. Together, the girls help the boys make it to their journey to get the cure for the Flare, and attempt to defeat the problems that they come across on the way. Newt/OC, Minho/OC, Thomas/OC.
1. The Flare

**I only own my OC's. Every other character belongs rightfully to James Dashner. **

There was no way to survive once you got the Flare. There was no hope for you. You either kill yourself, or slowly watch yourself go mad. Not to mention, the planet was scorched by the sun. Over the years, the world has crumbled as if it shouldn't have existed in the first place. The cure that scientists were searching for never happened. Everyone should've seen that one coming. The world had lost hope in everything. The world had given up as soon as they found out there was no cure, or no way to survive. The world was sick of losing their family, so they gave up. They sat there and let the world tear them to pieces.

Everyone except for Asa.

Deep down she knew she wouldn't last much longer, but that did not stop her. For 2 years, her and her friends Lexia and Elina have survived on their own. They've managed to keep themselves alive for that long. Asa was a natural born leader; smarter than anyone they've ever met. Although her hair was impossibly white, her eyes were an icy, shocking blue. Tattoos littered her tan body in random places, but came together nicely. Different images of flowers, quotes, and nautical tattoos stained her canvas. She didn't have much clothes, but who did? She mostly just wore a cut-off white tanktop, dark cargo pants, and black combat boots. The powerful vibe she gave off made her look like a goddess regardless.

She was on her own at first. She learned not to trust anyone, not even the cranks. She knew that first level cranks still had some of their humanity, but didn't want to chance it. Some of them, though, were bad people. Some of them had slowly let themselves lose grip on their humanity.

Those were the ones who had to die.

If she wanted to stay alive, she had to kill. She had to travel alone, and kill. She didn't take it upon herself to kill everyone, though. Just the cranks who have gone insane. If she didn't kill them, they'd kill her. They'd rip her to shreds and eat her. She couldn't die; she had to live. She had to fulfill her one purpose, to track down WICKED.

Elina came with her not too long after. The poor girl was surrounded by rock bottom cranks. After Asa helped her, Elina begged to take her along and teach her how to defend herself. Asa reluctantly agreed, keeping in mind how much baggage the girl would be. She was beautiful. Her olive skin was clear and smooth. Her brown hair was a little past her shoulders, and her brown eyes gleamed with sarcasm and mischief. Asa couldn't help but smile at the girl. She couldn't remember the last time she laughed so much everytime she's around her. Soon after they started traveling together, they became best friends.

They traveled together always. They would make a camp from place to place, and gather food on the way. They stuffed their backpacks with everything they could find that looked remotely useful, and they always had their backpacks with them. They didn't travel light, because they couldn't afford to.

It was a matter of months before they stumbled upon Lexia. She yelled for help when she saw the two girls walk by from the top floor of an abandoned building. After putting their heads together and got her down, Lexia requested to travel with her saviors. Asa strongly opposed against it, it was already hard enough traveling with two people.. Lexia was a small girl, shorter than both of the girls. She had red hair and green eyes. She had a shy nature, but knew everything about a bow. After Elina talked her into it, Lexia joined their team.

The girls have been together ever since. They became closer than anticipated, and heavily relied on each other. Over the 2 years they've survived together, they developed a sister bond. They never left without one another. Little did they know, it was a matter of time before things started flipping upside down.

_ Rat Man waited for an eternity, then slowly lowered himself in the chair and scooted himself foward to sit behind the desk once more. "You may think, or it may seem, that we're merely testing your ability to survive. On the surface, the Maze Trial could be mistakenly classified that way. But I assure you, this is not merely about survival and the will to live. That's only a part of this experiment. The bigger picture is something you don't understand until the very end. _

_ Sun flares have ravaged many parts of the earth. Also a disease, unlike any known before known to man, has been ravaging the earth's people; a disease called the Flare. For the first time, the goverenments of all nations, the surviving ones, are working together. They've combined forced to create WICKED, a group meant to find the new problems of this world. You are a big part of that fight. And you'll have every insentive to work with us, because sad to say, each one of you has already caught the virus._

The Rat Man's words played over and over in the glader's minds. Phase two has begun, with only 19 of them left. They lay scattered on the ground, with the heat forcefully burning their faces. Thomas tried desperately to open his eyes. He did so successfully, but had a heavy squint. When he partially opened his eyes, he saw all three girls staring down at him, all with bows pointing straight to his skull. Thomas tried to speak, but his throat was almost completely dried up. Instead, he raised his hands slowly. He looked over to see two of the girls nudge Minho and Newt with their foot.

"Up you go, strangers." Asa yelled, accent thick and full of authority. Gladers were groaning as they tried to shield their faces from the blistering heat. Their skin was already turning red from the blistering sun. Asa pointed her bow at Minho. "You're the leader. Tell me what you know about WICKED, and I may let you live." Elina looked all the gladers over. "We should get them back to camp, Asa. By the looks of it, they won't last long anyway." Minho motioned to Elina. "Listen to the girl, shank," Minho started. "We're hungry and dehydrated. If you want any info out of us, now isn't the time." Asa scoffed. "I'd rather leave them for dead and find someone else. We don't need leechers, we need information." Thomas knew he had to do something. There were 18 others who needed help badly. He knew without their help, they'd never make it to the cure. "We know about WICKED." This caught Asa's attention. She froze in place and stared at him. "What do you know? Tell me before I-" Elina cut her off. "Scare them and make them shit their pants _after_ we get them fed. Hungry, boys?"

The boys tried desperately to block the heat with their sheets. If anything, it made it worse. "How the shuck do you walk in this klunk?" Minho asked Elina. She shrugged lightly and looked up. "It's something you have to try and adapt to. Have you never been outside or something?" Minho chuckled. "It's a long story." Elina raised her eyebrows for a brief moment before pressing on. "Camp's this way. We have plenty of food and water, for now. When we get low, we take what we can and find a place elsewhere. We've been doing this for about 2 years."

"So let me get this straight. You shanks have survived in this heat for 2 shuckin' years?" Minho asked. Elina nodded before Asa sighed in frustration. "No more damn questions. After you get fed, I expect you to tell me anything I want to know. Are we clear?" The boys looked at each other before looking at Minho. "Crystal," he replied with a smirk.

The girls led the 19 boys into the warehouse where they had set up camp. Newt, who had stayed quiet for the most part, spoke up finally. "How did you manage to find a bloody food warehouse?" Asa replied in a cold tone. "Because we look for one, that's why. Wouldn't you?" Newt stared at her for a second before looking away and wiping sweat running down his face away with the back of his arm. Asa walked ahead into the warehouse, and Lexia turned to the gladers. "Please pardon Asa. She's really a nice person." Minho scoffed, and Thomas smacked him in the back of the head. "I mean it," Lexia explains. "Circumstances have made her cruel, I'm afraid."

When the gladers entered the warehouse, they looked all around them. Homemade tents were pitched in random places, all looking handmade from pieces of clothing and blankets. There was extra bedding in the middle of the tents. "We gather everything we can, and bring it back to wherever we're at. For now, this is our camp." Elina explains. "Lexia, why don't you go whip up some food for us? We'll help these boys with their burns." Lexia nodded before leaving the room.

Newt and Minho sat on the ground next to each other, both trying to cool off and grasp the situation. "So, we all have the bloody Flare, and we have limited time to make it somewhere and find the cure?" Minho nodded. "Yep, appears that way." Newt motioned to Asa. "What about the girl? Are you going to tell her what she wants?" Minho shrugged. "It's not like WICKED asked for silence, am I right? Yeah, she's a fiesty shank, but she won't scare me into telling her anything." Newt raised his eyebrows. "You sure about that, slinthead? You seemed a bit scared when they found us." Minho rolled his eyes.

Asa and Elina walked around to the boys and draped tea soaked rags over their burnt limbs and face. When they got to Minho and Newt, Minho raised his eyebrow. "Tea?" He questioned. Asa bend down in front of Newt. "If you're gonna complain, blister. I could care less," she retorted. Newt sent a smirk his way before Asa put a rag over Newt's face. "The tea takes out the heat and cuts the redness. It's Asa's method." Minho looked at Elina, then at Asa. "What's your story, anyway?" He asked Elina. She shrugged in response. "Basically, I was getting attacked by rock bottoms, and Asa came to my lovely rescue. She had a cape and everything, I swear." Asa smiled at Elina. "A cape?" Asa questioned. Minho snickered and shook his head. "So you _can_ smile. That's nice to know." Asa's smile turned into a glare. "Shut it."

After the tea sat on their skin for awhile, Asa and Elina headed down the hall to help Lexia. Thomas took a seat next to Minho and Newt. The gladers talked amongst themselves about the trip to get the cure. Thomas stared off in the distance. _Would they still help us if they knew we had the Flare?_ Before he could overthink it, the girls came in with several cans of pork and beans with forks. "Eat up, gents. Plenty to go around," Elina exclaimed over the chatter. "Water is in the pump in the back. Try not to go too overboard and make yourselves sick."

After stuffing themselves, the gladers settled all over the ground to get some rest. "I can't thank you guys enough for helping us," Thomas told Lexia. Lexia smiled awkwardly and nodded. "It's not a problem, really. Sorry, I kind of suck at talking to people." Thomas smiled at her. "You're doing fine right now. What's the deal with Asa anyway? Why is she obsessed with WICKED?" Lexia's eyes darkened and she looked down. "She's tried for years to track them down." Thomas glanced at Asa, who was currently sharpening a spear. "Why? Why would she want them so bad?" Lexia twiddled her thumbs. "It's not really my place to tell, but I know she won't. She's originally from Russia. Before the world turned bad, she was adopted by a small family in the United States. The family was pretty average; a mom, a dad, and a son. The son, her brother, was her rock. He was her best friend who always protected her. He didn't let any of the kids bully her." Thomas nodded. "What does that have to do with WICKED, though?" Lexia sighed and rubbed her eyes. "When Asa was 6, her brother was snatched from her by WICKED. They took him from her family, and from her. She wants him back, or better yet, needs him back. She knows there's a possibility he's dead, but she still wants to find WICKED and get him back. Also.." Thomas looked at her. "What?"

"She's also hunting them down to get the cure, because I have the Flare."


	2. Journey

**Thank you all for following this story. I know it's much more different than what some are used to me writing, but I hope I can do this lovely prompt justice. Also, as you can see by the story photo, Asa's look is based off of Emily Browning in Suckerpunch. As always, I only own my OCs. All quotes from the book and the characters belong to James Dashner.**

Thomas stared at the redhead for awhile before continuing. "You have the Flare?" Lexia nodded at him and looked down at her hands. "Yes, I have the flare. I don't really know how long I've had it, but it's there."

Thomas looked at her hands as she fidgeted, obviously uncomfortable talking about it. "What about your friends? Do they have the flare, too?"

Lexia shook her head. "No, no they don't."

"How do you know?" He questioned her. "How do you know they don't? Isn't it airborne?"

Lexia nodded her head solemnly. "Yeah, it is. If they had it, they'd tell me. We don't keep secrets from each other. Plus, they were here long before I was. If they had it, they'd be Gone by now."

Thomas let that sink in. Unless everything he knew about the Flare (which wasn't much) was a lie, both of those girls would've been long Gone by now.

"Okay, shanks. We've called a Gathering." Minho announced to the group of gladers. Everyone sat in a circle in the middle of the homemade tents, awaiting information and a plan.

Asa, Lexia, and Elina sat huddled together closely, as if they were scared to be seperated. Even though Asa wouldn't show it, she felt majorly uncomfortable being around all of these strangers.

After Minho took a seat, he motioned to the girls. "Now, it's time for you to hear our long tale."

Minho told the girls about their experience in the maze. He told them all about how they escaped, about the dorm, and about the beginning of phase two. He told them all about the Changing, the grievers, and the experience they had getting to the surface from the dorms. He told them that they all had the Flare, and had to find the safe haven to get the cure. During this, Asa's eyes flared with anger. Newt noticed this, and couldn't help but wonder why she was so angry. She wasn't apart of the maze trials, or was she? How did she get here anyway?

After Minho finished telling the girls everything that's led up to this moment, he studied their faces. "Any questions? Comments? Concerns?"

Asa stood wordlessly and studied the faces of the boys. "We're going with you." She simply stated. Minho scoffed. "What makes you think that?" He asked her.

Asa chose her words carefully before continuing. "It would be unwise for you to continue without us. Think about it; we know the area, we know where and how to get supplies, we know how to deal with Cranks, and we're good fighters." Minho crossed his arms. "How long have you shanks been here?" He asked. "Two years," she simply stated.

Gladers stared at her. "Two bloody years, and you _don't_ have the Flare?" Newt asked her. Asa nodded and crossed her arms. "Don't ask us, because we don't know. I don't really remember how I got here, but I know my life before I was put here." Minho and Thomas shared a look.

"How do we know you don't have the Flare?" Minho asked Asa. She rolled her eyes before responding. "We've been here two fucking years, yeah? We would've been Gone by now; Rock bottom." Her accent was thick with sarcasm. "You know who she reminds me of?" Newt mumbled to Thomas. "A less arrogant version of Gally." Thomas nodded in response. She really did remind him of Gally, even though he couldn't put his finger on how.

"So it's settled, yes? We're coming with you. We leave tomorrow at night fall." And with that, Asa walked away from the Gathering.

Thomas looked over at Lexia. She looked down at her hands, her expression saddening. Asa didn't mention to the other gladers that Lexia had the Flare, for a reason that Thomas did not know. Maybe Asa and Elina were just looking out for her, or maybe they were scared of what the gladers would think.

"Hold on, Asa," Elina demanded. Asa whipped around and matched her gaze, waiting for Elina to proceed. "Tell them why we're going. They deserve to know why we're looking for WICKED. They shared with us, it's fair that we share with them." Minho couldn't hide his shocked expression. None of the gladers expected the girls to be _that_ cooperating.

Asa sighed before taking her seat. "Okay, I'll explain it, but no questions until the end, yes?" When no one responded, she knew the gladers understood. "When I was six years old, my brother was taken from me by WICKED." She paused, trying to tell the story without getting angry. "I'm originally from Russia. When I was 3, I was adopted by an American family. My brother and I were very close in age, so we became good friends." Minho and Newt shared a look. "We did everything together. He taught me lots of things I never knew. When we were 6 years old, our mother told us that he would be going away for a long time." She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned foward. "My brother's name is Charlie. I don't know why WICKED took him, or what they had planned for him, but I want him back. I'm not asking for them to give him back, I'm demanding."

Thomas leaned foward a bit and chose his words carefully. "We don't know a Charlie, at least in our glade, there wasn't one. WICKED is unpredictable. You do know that he could not exist anymore, right?"

Minho piped in. "You do remember the fact that we lost our real names after the Swipe, right slinthead? Don't scare her like that."

"Do you remember what he looks like?" Newt asked Asa. She looked down and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember.

"He had brown hair with blue eyes. I couldn't tell you what he looks like now, it's been 10 years," She almost whispered the last part. Newt felt a twinge of sympathy for the blonde run through him. He was sure that he missed family of his own, but she actually remembered them.

"Right, so, goodnight." Asa quickly said, before going into her tent and turning her back. Elina looked at her with sadness in her eyes. She knew how hard it was for Asa to talk about it, and she felt bad for making her.

Minho came up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. "She'll be fine. You did what you had to do, because to be honest, if we didn't know, we probably wouldn't have taken you shanks with us." Elina nodded. "I guess. It's still hard for her to open up, let alone be forced to in front of strangers." Minho nodded. "I get it, I really do. Thanks for letting us bunk with you. I promise we'll be perfect gentlemen." Elina rolled her eyes and smiled at the runner. "We promise to be gentleman, too." she said in her sweetest, sarcastic filled voice.

The 19 boys scattered across the warehouse to lay down. Although the interior was huge, it was comfortably packed. Lexia distributed bedding and went to lay in her own tent. Elina walked into her tent soon after, burying herself under her bedding.

_"Do you remember the steps?" Charlie asked Asa softly. Asa nodded before trying once again. "Stack the blocks in order; there you go." Charlie told her as she was stacking the blocks. "One, two, three, four.." Asa read them as she stacked them. _

_"Good!" He praised her. "Now, try again but going backwards."_

_A gunshot rang from outside, causing Asa to drop her blocks and stumble backward. "Hey, it's alright." Charlie comforted his sister. "Let's play a game, okay?" Charlie helped her up and pulled her onto the couch. "Okay, the floor is made of lava. You can't touch it or you'll die. Jump on the furnature to move." He explained to her. She nodded happily before jumping on the couch with him._

_ Both giggling from the fun, they continued jumping on the couches. When Asa tried to jump to the other couch, she fell and scraped her knee. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as she looked at Charlie. He ran into the kitchen and had taken a bandaid from the cupboard. "Don't be so clumsy," Charlie mumbled. "Did I die?" Asa whispered to him sadly._

_"No, you'll never die. Your big brother is here to protect you."_

Asa awoke with a jolt. She had dreams and flashbacks about her brother all the time, but they always hurt her to no end. Tears dropped from her eyes as she wrapped her arms around her knees. She missed her brother terribly. The dreams only amplified the pain she felt inside.

Across from her tent, Newt stared at her in awe. For some odd reason, he felt the want to comfort the girl. The same girl who held him at bow point in the desert, he wanted to comfort. He didn't though, he silently watched her from afar, trying to understand the girl. Despite the hard exterior disguise she wore, she sat and cried when no one was looking.

He saw so much of himself in her that moment, that it became emotionally unbearable.

The boys awoke to breakfast that Frypan helped Lexia make. The cook missed his kitchen back in the glade more than he would admit.

After the boys all ate, Asa told them that it was best if they went and cleaned themselves up. According to the girls, they would be leaving as soon as the sun went down.

Asa, Elina, and Lexia began sewing packs for the boys from the old bedding. After they looked durable, they began filling them with any leftover food from the warehouse. They gathered up and bottles they could find, and instructed the boys to fill them up with water when they went in back to wash up.

After every glader was clean and a water bottle filled, they handed each of them a pack. "You guys made all of these?" Minho asked Elina when she handed him one. "Yes," she told him. "Don't read too much into it, though. You're all secretly our packmules." She added with a wink. Minho couldn't help but chuckle. "If they have food in them, then good that."

When nightfall hit, they made their way north. "So, you have to travel 100 miles north to this imaginary safe haven, yes?" Asa asked Newt. "If we want the bloody cure, then yes." He responded. Asa nodded once before going completely silent.

He stole a glance at her. She was looking straight ahead, not looking anywhere else. Up close, Newt could see her puffy and slightly bloodshot eyes from the night before. He looked away quickly before she caught him staring at her. She was beautiful beyond words. The powerful leadership and confidence vibe she gave off only made her more beautiful. Newt chuckled to himself. Of all things he could be thinking at this time, he was thinking about how pretty a girl was?

"What's so funny?" Asa asked him, obviously annoyed.

"Oh, nothing really."

"_Pizdít'," _she mumbled in Russian.

Newt raised his eyebrows at the girl. "What?" He questioned. She barely glanced his direction before speeding up and catching up with Elina, who was chatting with Minho the whole way. Newt curiously looked at the girl. Was she purposely avoiding him?

Thomas and Lexia were walking silently next to each other. He didn't know why he chose to match her pace, but he did. Everytime he'd look at her, he'd think of Teresa.

Teresa and Lexia were total opposites. While Teresa was beautiful, Lexia was more cute. Lexia's red hair and green eyes drastically contrasted to Teresa's black hair and blue eyes. For some reason, he felt perfectly content with the small redhead. She was almost a whole foot shorter than him, and a little paler than him. He randomly had the urge to carry her on his back.

"Potty break," Minho said with his hands on his hips as he caught his breath. "Bury your klink and don't do it too close. We'll rest for fifteen, then we'll just walk awhile. I know you shanks can't keep up with runners like me and Thomas." Asa rolled her eyes at the last comment.

Thomas tuned out, he didn't need directions on how to use the bathroom, and turned to get a look at where they'd stopped. He took a deep, full breath, and when he relaxed his eyes caught on something. A dark shadow of a shape a few hundred yards in front of them, but not directly in the path of their journey. A square of darkness against the faint glow of the town up ahead. It stook out so distinctly he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it until now.

"Hey!" he yelled, pointing toward it. "Looks like a little building up there, just a few minutes away, to the right some. You guys see it?"

"Yeah, I see it," Minho responded, walking up to stand next to him. "Wonder what it is."

Before Thomas could respond, two things happened almost simultaneously.

All sounds stopped. Then, stepping out from behind the dark building up ahead, the figure of a girl appeared, long hair flowing from her shadowed head like black silk.


End file.
